How To Open a Coconut

Coconut is an exotic fruit and extremely versatile in the kitchen, since its pulp can be used in different preparations or can be squeezed to make coconut milk. Having plenty of water inside is very refreshing.

Coconut benefits are certainly interesting for healthy people of all ages, especially when consumed occasionally. It has nutritive substances, being a fruit very rich in iron and potassium, and ultimately in those mineral salts that participate in the own mineralization of the bones, such as calcium, phosphorus or magnesium.

It is also interesting its fiber content, which gives the coconut properties certainly laxative, helping to reduce and lower high cholesterol and control blood sugar, being equally ideal for diabetics.

Regarding the different vitamins that this fruit has, vitamin E stands out, as we know, of important antioxidant action.

However the coconut is a fruit that is not advised for those people who suffer some cardiovasculardisease to contain a significant amount of saturated fatty acids, as well as those people who are following a diet to lose weight because it has a high value energetic. It is ideal for example as a dessert for the little ones, or for people who are weak.

But we can also enjoy by this time the coconut, a truly exotic fruit, at the same time delicious, whose juice can refresh more at any time.

In fact, it is often customary that in many markets or supermarkets we can find coconut juice precisely as canned or bottled, so it is not necessary to buy a coconut to enjoy its precious liquid. Of course, it is true that then we would not enjoy their main virtues and nutritional properties.

To be able to take advantage of all these magnificent qualities, you must first cross the extremely hard bark of the coconut. Unlike other fruits, with which any knife is enough to cut them, to open a coconut it is necessary to follow some steps to use stronger tools: a knife, a screwdriver, nail and hammer, a bowl and a wooden board make up the list of Utensils. Here we leave the steps for you to learn how to open a coconut.

Instructions for How to open a coconut

To open a coconut you must follow these steps: First clean it by pulling out the beards or strands you have in excess. Before opening them, we must brush and remove most of the brown fibers and soil that they have in their shell.

Place the coconut on the wooden board, on a firm surface. Look for the three dimples or slits, called eyes, grouped in a triangular shape that are usually at the bottom.

Using the screwdriver, drill the coconut through these slits. You can help with a hammer if it is very hard.

Once you have drilled it, let the water that is inside the coconut leave and deposit it in the container. You may want to glue it before you take it, by the scum that may have fallen from the bark.

Once empty hold the coconut with the holes in the palm of the hand. Locate the line that is normally marked on the coconut shell, which divides it in half.

On this line place the non-sharp part of the knife blade and strike firmly as you turn the coconut into the palm of your hand. Continue rotating and tapping on the line until the coconut breaks in half.

Another way to open it after the water has been removed is to hold the coconut with one hand, so that the marks are facing you or away from you, and you can turn the coconut comfortably so that the marks do not move from the coconut. Area where they are. With the other hand hold the hammer, and begin to give dry blows throughout the diameter of the coconut. Imagine this: if the coconut is a planet, and the side of the marks is one pole, and the opposite is the other, the diameter is what would be the equator. Do not fear for your hand,because the coconut will absorb the bulk of the blows, in addition, it is more skill to give dry blows, than strength.

Another option is to place the coconut on a resistant surface and the tip of the knife again on the line marked in the shell. Tap the hammer down the bottom of the knife handle, so the coconut should break almost halfway. After this the knife should be able to be easily inserted to finish opening the coconut.

Once we open the coconut we can extract the meat with a strong metal spoon. With the edge of the spoon make a “cut” in the coconut meat, from the edge towards the bottom, one or two centimeters long, and then, without moving the spoon from there, pry to get that piece. You are pulling only one or two centimeters of meat at a time, but it is the simplest and least exhausting and painful way to do it. In addition, soon you will take confidence and do it faster.

Another way to remove the meat is by placing the shell on the fire. When the shell is hot, it will easily come off with a knife and when it is a little cooler, the second shell, the finite shell that is stuck to the meat, will be removed and ready to be used. You can eat it by chunks or grate it to make preparations.

What do you need for How to open a coconut?

A dry or ripe coconut (brown on the outside)

A knife, a screwdriver, nail and hammer, a bowl and a wooden board.

A strong metal spoon.

Tips for How to open a coconut

If the coconut is green you can cut it directly with a large knife.

Do not lean the coconut on a surface like a table or the floor to break it, because you can damage the surface because the coconut is hard or it can happen that the coconut shoots out when you give a blow. It is best to hold it firmly with your hand.

After removing the skin, wash the pulp to remove all the rest of the shell, as it is usually somewhat indigestible.